PACE President: Priorities of Ukraine Coincide With Those of Parliamentary Assembly of The Council of Europe

KYIV, Ukraine, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

"The priorities of Ukraine during its presidency at the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers coincide with the priorities of PACE, which means that we will cooperate very actively in the next six months," said President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mevluet Çavusoglu during his interview to Ukrainian media Interfax-Ukraine.

During the interview, PACE President Mevluet Çavusoglu stressed that Ukrainian focus on children's rights, human rights, strengthening democracy and stability, as well as the strengthening of democracy at the local level coincides with the priorities of PACE, which will result in active cooperation in the following six months.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, mentioned earlier: "Ukraine's priority during the chairmanship is protection of children's rights through appropriate measures within the Council of Europe, as well as through the actions at the national level that will contribute to achieving the common goal - building the society that will ensure safety of children." In addition, Ukraine will focus on implementation of the European Court of Human Rights decisions, and improvement of local governance and protection of rights of the disabled people.

PACE President Mevluet Çavusoglu also mentioned, that recently he met with President Yanukovych, who assured him that Ukraine is in the process of implementing reforms, fighting corruption and adopting the necessary laws that are a required for all members of PACE. Ukrainian leader also mentioned that we will see tangible results in the nearest future.

When asked about the issue related to the former prime-minister of Ukraine and now the opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the PACE president reiterated that during the conversation with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs this issue had been raised and Ukrainian side had reasonably explained that investigation was progressing within legal boundaries. In the meantime, Mevluet Çavusoglu expressed his belief that politicians should not influence the ongoing investigation process.

Ukraine assumed presidency at the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers on May 11 this year. Notably, the Ukrainian presidency in the CE Committee of Ministers, which will last until November 2011, will be the first for nearly sixteen years since Ukraine has been a member of the organization.